Shibam

Government

Shibam (Arabic شبام, DMG SIBAM ) is the historical capital of the Hadramaut region of Yemen.

Shibam is located in the middle Wadi Hadramaut and has about 13,000 inhabitants. The management unit Shibam has a population of 59 285. The ancient city covers an area of ​​250 meters x 350 meters and is famous for its multi-storey houses made ​​of clay bricks. Many of the buildings are up to 25 meters high and have an age of up to 500 years. The stability of the houses will be secured by, among other things, a consistent reduction of Mauerstaerken up, and by a rigid modular system of wall and window bays and a system of wooden pillars and wood ceilings, with which the mud walls are interlinked. The clay surfaces must be replaced regularly. The roofs and sensitive components are protected by lime plaster, the only every 25 years, must be renewed about.

This city ensemble was recorded in 1982 by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The name of the city of Shibam already appeared on a hadramitischen temple inscription from the fifth century BC on, which was found in another city and is kept in the Museum of Seyun. After the destruction of Shabwa in the 3rd century the population immigrated in the middle Wadi Hadramaut and probably founded the city of Shibam in its present form. There are various versions of the names origin, probably the name of the city led (as well as the city of Shibam - Kawkaban ) from a South Arabian local term for a place beneath a steep mountain from. Until the 15th century Shibam was the political and economic center of the Hadhramaut. But when the Kathiri Sultans collected Seiyun ( Sejuhn ) to the new residence, the city lost its importance. It was not until 1893 reached the city of the first Europeans.

During heavy rains in late October 2008, some houses collapsed.